‘Companions’ Benefit Gets Warm Reception

It was a party with mixed emotions.

The event at the Twenty/20 club in Century City Monday night followed the benefit premiere of “Longtime Companions.” On the one hand there was a celebratory feeling--Hollywood had finally made a movie about the AIDS crisis. On the other hand, a film about AIDS does not lend itself to a festive mood.

“It’s the gay ‘Big Chill,’ ” is the way Bill Eisentraut, who produced the benefit, described the film. “Nobody died from an epidemic in ‘The Big Chill,’ ” interjected a guest standing nearby.

While the crowd at the premiere was predominantly gay, it was a frequently heard wish that the film be seen not just by the gay community, but by society at large.

“It’s going to be a tough sell, but we want to get a crossover audience,” said co-star Bruce Davison. “We don’t want to be just preaching to the choir, so to speak.”

Among the 800 in the pews at the Cineplex Odeon for the screening, which raised $60,000 for the AIDS Hospice Foundation, the American Foundation for AIDS Research and KCET (American Playhouse produced the film, thus the connection with public television) were co-star Dermot Mulroney, Carol Kane, Charnele Brown, Michael Nouri, Davison’s wife Lisa Pelikan and Drew Barrymore out with Balthazar Getty.

“I think the film will do well,” said actress Dana Delany of “China Beach.” “There’s a lot in it that both gays and straights could relate to. After all, death is universal.”